By early 1980, the leading Punk bands (The Clash, Angelic Upstarts, U.K. Subs, etc...) were now a few years old. Having firmly established themselves on major record labels, Punk Rock had lost a lot of it's initial passion and excitement. However, there were still a number of young up and coming bands needing an outlet for their talent and material in order to revitalise the (now) stale Punk scene. A number of smaller record companies were formed to provide such an outlet, arguably the two biggest being Riot City and Secret. However, there was another who had the privilege (if you can call it that) of appearing in the national charts. This was No Future Records.

Formed by Chris Berry and Richard Jones with the aid of a £1,000 bank loan, No Future Records provided another outlet opportunity for these new, young punk bands (as well as those preferring the new 'Oi!' tag). An advertisement was placed in Sounds newspaper asking for demo tapes from such punk and skinhead bands. This led to the signing of a number of bands (notably Blitz, The Partisans, Peter and The Test Tube Babies and Red Alert) who were to spearhead the re-emergence of punk.

For some of these bands, their only recordings were with No Future (e.g. Attak and The Violators), some made further recordings with other record companies before finally calling it a day (e.g. The Insane and Blitzkrieg) and some have been consistently recording for the last twenty years (e.g. Peter and The Test Tube Babies and Red Alert). There have even been recent reformations and releases after all this time, notably The Partisans (albeit without the lovely Louise Wright - for information, she was 17 at the time). Even at this very time, Blitz are preparing to record some new material, albeit with Nidge being the only original band member. Another band that is worth mentioning here, although their only appearance for No Future was on a compilation 12" EP is One Way System. They progressed to be one of the biggest names in punk rock, and are still recording today, but their roots lay with No Future Records. Two bands that were nearly signed to the label were G.B.H. and Skrewdriver.

The first No Future release was a powerful four track EP by Blitz, entitled "All Out Attack", in August 1981. Initially, only 1,000 copies were pressed, but these soon sold out (mostly by mail order) and a further pressing was urgently requested. In total, over 25,000 copies of this EP were sold, making it one of the most successful releases by No Future. Further singles by The Partisans, Peter and The Test Tube Babies and Red Alert soon brought No Future deserved recognition as one of the leading Punk record labels with a number of other bands clamouring for a deal. Bands such as Attak, The Samples, The Screaming Dead (a gothic variation for the label), The Blood as well as those previously mentioned were soon to be offered a deal for their material. The singles/EPs were assigned with 'Oi' as the prefix to the catalogue number, with one notable exception. The Wall, who's final release was a cover of the Beatles' "Day Tripper", did not wish to be associated the 'Oi' tag, and so their solitary release on No Future was given an 'O2' prefix.

The first LP recorded on No Future was Blitz's "Voice Of A Generation". Remarkably for such a small label, it sold over 15,000 copies in its first week of release with only minimal publicity, spending three weeks listed in the national album charts, peaking at number 27. This success secured a number of live dates for the band, and also television appearance in Channel 4's "The Tube". However, the first No Future LP to appear in the shops was by the American punk band Channel 3, licensed from the U.S. label Posh Boy Records. Further LPs were released by The Partisans, Red Alert and Attak, as well as a live recording by Peter and The Test Tube Babies (quite aptly entitled "Pissed And Proud").

After releasing 29 singles and 9 LPs, No Future folded. The ever-changing music and fashion scene dictated a slump in punk record sales, and some of the bands could not change musically or ideologically, and thus faced financial loss. A compilation LP was released in November 1984 as a final gesture, which included some narrative on the cover which I have used on this page. As stated above, some bands continued and are still going strong today, but for the majority of the bands, the No Future record label is the only permanent evidence of their existence.

This website is not intended to be a detailed biography of any of the bands who recorded on the label. However, it includes some brief details, including interesting and useful links. Please contact me if any of these links are broken. Further, the sister label Future Records is not covered in detail on this site. This label deviated from the Punk/Oi! music and only released a handful of material.

Request to Punk/Oi! website owners
If you have a place on your site for links, please add one for this website. Feel free to use the No Future logo in the heading and the title "Unofficial No Future Records Website". Please contact me if you would like a reciprocal link.

I'd like to thank the following (in no particular order) for their assistance in creating and maintaining this website:

Mark Brennan at Captain Oi!, where you can get a number of No Future compilation CDs at a more reasonable price than the original vinyl.